Drain cleaner



R. W. HAMLETT DRAIN CLEANER Oct. 9, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 23, 1950 INVENToR. 29 Roswr-:LL w. HAMLETT ATTORNEY Oct.

R. W. HAMLETT DRAIN CLEANER Filed March 23, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Oct. 9, 1951 R. w. HAMLETT l2,570,546

DRAIN CLEANER FIG- 9 FIG. 8 74 I Y INVENToR.

Roswell. w HAMLETT ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 9, 1951 DRAIN CLEANER Roswell W. Hamlett, Durham, N. C.

Application March 23, 1950, Serial No. 151,345

6 Claims.

i This invention relates to cleaning devices and' more particularly to devices employed in the removal of stoppages and the cleaning of plumbing outletsincluding sinks, basins, tubs, commodes, bidets, and the like,

Devices of variousl kinds have been employed in an attempt to unstop drains or discharge outletsY from sinks and other plumbing receptacles with only a limited degree of success and satisfaction. They lacked simplicity, were difllcult to use, or failed to operate satisfactorily, as well as other objectionable characteristics.

It is an object of the invention to provide a cleaning device of simple and inexpensive construction, Which can be easily applied and will readily and automatically become tightly secured in place by water pressure as well as a device which can be used on substantially all drainage outlets about the home.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

l Fig. 1 isa vertical section illustrating the drain cleaner of the present invention in operative position; y

Fig. 2, a vertical section showing the clamping member in extended position;

Fig. `3, a slightly modified form of the device incorporating a manipulating or holding handle;

Fig. 4, a fragmentary section of a modified form of the device of Fig. 1 incorporating a different type of sealing gasket;

Fig. 5, a vertical section of a further modified form of the invention in operative position;

Fig. 6, a fragmentary section of the device shown in Fig. with the clamp operating bellows in collapsed condition;

Fig. '7, a vertical section of a further modified form of the invention;v

Fig. 8, an elevation with parts in section for greater clarity of the device of Fig. 7 in operative position; f

Fig. 9, a View similar to Fig. 8 but showing the device in a' different type of drain opening; and

Fig. 10, a view similar to that-of Fig. 9 but with the device in a further modified type of drain opening.

With continued reference to the drawings there is shown in Fig. 1 a basin or sink I0 having a conventional outlet faucet I I with a manipulating handle I2 and a drain opening I3 formed by a thimble-l4 secured to the sink or basin I0, the opening I3 having a strainer or the like formed by cross bars I5 disposed therein,

The drain cleaner of this invention illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a generally cylindrical tube I6 provided with a beveled opening Il at the upper end thereof and a restricted opening I8 at the llower end. Tube I6 serves to receive a piston indicated generally at I9, this piston, as best shown in Fig. 2, comprising a resilient cylindrical body 20 serving to support and be surrounded by a cup washer 2| of leather or the like, the body 20 having an aperture 22 therethrough to receive a clamping rod 23.

Rod 23 is provided adjacent the upper end thereof with screw threads 24 for receiving a lower piston clamping nut 25 which engages a washer 23 in contact with the lower surface of body 20, there being an upper clamping nut 2'I threadedly received 4on the threads 24 and engaging a clamping washer 28 in contact with the upper surface of cup Washer 2|. Nuts 25 and 2l serve to rrnly retain the piston assembly I9 on the clamping rod 23 and due to the resiliency of body 20, which may be formed of rubber or other suitable material, tightening of the nuts 25 and 2l will expand the body 20 to ensure uid tight engagement between the cup washer 2| and the inner wall of tube I6. Clamping rod 23 extends through restricted opening I8 in the tube I6 and is provided on the lower end thereof with a hook or other appropriate engaging means 29, the function of which will be presently described.

Surrounding the lower portion of the tube I6 is a generally ball shaped sealing member 30 Which may be formed of rubber or other suitable material, member 30 having an upper retaining washer 3|, member 30 and Washer 3l being received and xed on the lower portion of tube I6. 4Tube `I6 is provided slightly below the mid point thereof with a tting 32 which may be lin the form of an elbow or any othery desired configuration, this ttng being provided with a nipple 33 for receiving a flexible conduit 3d securedl to the nipple 33 by a suitable clamp 35.V Conduit 34 may be provided at the upper vend thereof With a frictional fluid tight faucet engaging portion 36 which serves to connect the device to the faucet II and permit the application of water'l The manipulating handle I2 of the.

faucet Il is operated to introduce water at city pressure through conduit 34 into the interior of tube I6 below the piston I9, the restricted opening I8 serving to impede the flow of water from the tube .i6 thus building up a pressure therein and moving the piston I9 upwardly and moving the rod 23 to clamp the sealing member 3U in fluid tight sealing engagement with the edge 31.

Continued application of water pressure results in filling thei drain. opening i3 above any obstruction therein and since this pressure will build up to the full city water pressure the obstruction will be removed therefrom. It will also be obvious that the sealing engagement between the-body 30 and edge 31 will be proportional to the pressure required to remove the obstruction since as` the pressure in the drain opening I3. builds up likewise the upward pressure exerted against the lower surface of piston I9 to clamp the member 3U in position will increase and therefore under no condition will there be leakage between the. edge 37S and the. body 39. Upon removal of the obstruction and cleaning of thev drain, it is only necessary to close the faucet i IV and remove the device from the sink or basin.

A slightly modied form of the device shown in Figs; l and 2 is illustrated in Fig. 3, and this form is. identical thereto in all respects except that a handle 38 of wood or other suitable material is disposed in the upper end of tube IE and secured thereto by screw threaded fastening means or the like 39. Since in this form of the invention the upper end of tube it is closed it is necessary to relieve pressure developed therein by upward movement of the piston I9 and consequently a vent opening 40 is provided in the wall of the tube l immediately below the lower end of handle- 38, this vent opening 4d serving to relieve any pressure in the upper end of tube I6 and permit the unimpeded upward movement of piston I9" under the action of water pressure applied to the lower surface thereof.

While the sealing body 30 is shown as a portion of a sphere obviously this body may be provided with other configurations and if desired may be formed with -a series of concentric steps in order to accommodate the same to drain openings of varying diameters.

In Fig. 4 there is illustrated a still further modied form of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in which the sealing body 39 is replaced by a generally bell-shaped rigid hollow member 4I which may be provided on the lower annular edge thereof with asealing gasket 42 of rubber or vother suitable materialx this gasket 'in the form shown having a channel 43 for receiving the edge of member 4| and an enlarged sink engaging portion 44 which serves to seal against escape of liquid from within the device and the drain opening f3. This form of the invention will obviously `accommodate all drain openings from the inner diameter of the gasket 42 down to the smallest practical drain opening found in general use.

In Figs. 5 and 6 there is shown a further modifled form of the drain cleaner of this invention which incorporates the basic principle of utilizing the city water pressure to provide a sealing engagement between the device and the surface surrounding the drain opening to be cleaned but in which the specific structure for applying this pressure is somewhat different.

In this form of the invention a tube 45 having a restricted opening 46 at the lower end thereof serves to receive and support a sealing body 41 of resilient material which body if desired. IMX

be similar in all respects to the sealing body 3l! of the form of the invention above described. The tube 45 is provided with a tting 48 having a nipple 49 for receiving a flexible conduit 50 which is firmly attached thereto in uid tight engagement by a clamp 5I. Conduit 50 is provided at the opposite end thereof with a frictional fluid tight coupling 52 for engaging a faucet 53 provided with the usual manipulating, handle 54.

The pressure of the water supply from faucet 53 is utilized in this instance to clamp the sealing body 41 in engagement with an edge 55 surrounding a drain opening 55 in a basin or sink 57' by means of a flexible expansible chamber in the form of a bellows 58. Bellows 58 may be of any desired configuration and is constructed of rubber or other suitable material which is flexible and suiiiciently strong to retain the full city waterpressure. The lower end of bellows 58 is received around the upper end of tube 45 and fixed thereonin fluid tight engagement by a clamp 59. The upper end of bellowsY 58 is= closed and. receives a solid body 6B to provide sufcient mechanical. rigidity and strength. this body 5B having an aperture therethrough for receiving a clamping rod 6| provided at its. upper end with a threaded portionZ and at its lower end with a hook or other 'securingy means G3i for engaging cross bars 6.4 which are normallyA provided as a strainer or the like in drain openingY 55. The clamping rod 6l is provided with a lower clamping nut on the threaded portion E52`v and serving to` firmly secure the rod 5l in position by washer 65 and to prevent any leakage through the aperture in the upper end of bellows 581 which receives the rod 5I is a washer 61. and upper clamping nutv E8. also received on the' threaded portion 62.

In operation the device just described is con-l ditioned for application to the sink by collapsing the.v bellows 58 as shown in Fig. 6 to extend the clamping rod El a suicient distance whereby the hook 63 may engage the bar 64. Upon operation. of manipulating handle 54 water will flow through faucet 53 and conduit 50 to the interior of tube 45 and bellows 58 thus expanding the bellows tothe position shown in Fig. 5 or to any intermediate position depending upon the location of cross bars 64. This action will firmly clamp the sealingbody 41 in engagement with the annular edge 55 of the drain opening 56, thus precluding any leakage of water therefrom.

AIn Fig. 5 there is also shown the normal overflow opening 69 provided in the basin or sink with an overow passage 10 communicating with the drain opening 55 through apertures 'il therein. Since the water pressure exerted on an obstruction below aperture 'H would escape through passage 'EG and drain opening 69 a plug in the form of a stepped or tapered stopper 'I2 may be inserted in the overflow opening 69 to prevent such escape. For convenient, manipulation stopper 12i may be provided with a ring 'I3 to which maybe attached if desired a flexible retaining member for preventing loss of the same.

A still further modified form of the invention is shown in Figs. 7 to 10 and this form is particularly versatile in that an extremely large range of sizes of drain openings may be accommodated. The device in this instance comprises a hollow exible member I4 of generally spherical con.- guration although this conguration may be considerably varied if desired. The member 14 is constructed of flexible material having suiiicient rnechariical.l strength toV withstand full city water pressure applied to the interiorith'ereoi and at one side is provided with arestricted opening 15 through which water under pressure may be expelled. e

The member 14 is provided in a surface thereof substantially opposite the restricted opening 15 with an inlet opening having a metallicY or other rigid liner 16 inserted therein. The liner 16 and surrounding wall 11 serves to receive lone end of aY conduit 18 which is secured in fluid tight engagement therewith by a clamp 19. The opposite end of conduit 16 is provided withl coupling means for engaging a conventional faucetin accordance with the forms ofthe invention above described.

Diametrically oppositev the restricted opening 15 Van aperture is provided in'thefwall ofthe member 14to receive the threaded portion 80 of a clamping rod 8|. The opposite end of clamping rod 8| is provided with a hook or other engaging means 82. A lower clamping nut 83 is disposed on the threaded portion 80 and is in contact with a washer 84 in engagement with the inner wall of member 14. An outer clamping and sealing washer 85 engages the outer surface of member 14 and is held Ain iirm engagement therewith by an upper clamping nut 86 received on the threaded portion 80. f

The device of Figs. 1 to 10 may be used in a manner similar to the various devices above described and as illustrated in Fig. 8, the upper portion of the member 14 may be collapsed a sumcient distance to extend the clamping rod 8| and hook into engagement with a cross bar 81 disposed in drain opening 88, the outer surface of member 14 engaging the annular edge 89 surrounding the drain opening. Upon application of Water pressure to the interior of member 14 the same will expand thus exerting an upward pull on rod 8| to firmly clamp the member 14 in engagement with the edge 89 thus preventing any leakage therebetween and the full water pressure may be applied through the restricted opening 15 to the drain opening 88 thus dislodging any foreign material causing a stoppage thereof. This form of the invention operates similarly to the forms described above, the chief difference being in the form of the device for producing a clamping pressure.

The device shown in Fig. 9 may also be utilized for cleaning a drain opening 9U having a particularly large opening 9| extending into a sink or basin 92 in which case the member 14 is disposed entirely within the opening 9| with the hook 82 in engagement with a cross bar 93. In this application of the device the fluid is sealed within the drain opening 90 by engagement of the outer wall of the member 14 with the wall 94 of the drain opening 9|, this engagement of course being proportional to the pressure within the member 14.

In cases where no cross bar is provided within the drain opening or in which the cross bar 95 as shown in Fig. is disposed in the drain opening 96 in such a location that it is impossible to engage the hook 82 therewith, the member 14 may be disposed within the relatively large drain opening 91 in engagement with the wall 98 thereof, this engagement caused by the pressure within the member 14 being sufficient to seal against leakage from the drain opening, as before, the water ilowing through restricted opening to clean the drain.

It will thus be seen that by the above forms of the invention there ha's been provided a relatively simple device for cleaning drains and for removing obstructions therein in 'which the* troublesomey problem of eliminating leakage 'is solved by utilizing the city water pressure `to clamp the device in firm sealing engagement with the sink or basin in which the clogged drainis' situated and'also in which the city water pres#4 sure is utilized to dislodge the Aobstruction in the drain. The device requires no accurately machined parts and is therefore particularly economical in construction and may be expected to give satisfactory service over a long period of time.

1t will be obvious to those skilled in the an; that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore this invention is not lim'- ited by that which is shown in the drawings or by that which is described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims. What is claimed is:

l. A drain cleaner comprising in combinationa seal for a drain having a passage for water` therethrough with an inlet adjacent its upper portion and a restricted discharge from its lower ,l

portion into the drain to be cleaned, a source in proportion to the pressure of the water in said passage with the flow of water from said restricted discharge serving to enter the drain and exert pressure therein to dislodge stoppage.

2. A drain cleaner comprising in combination a resilient ball type seal having an axial opening therethrough, a tube in said axial opening hav: ing an open upper end and a restricted opening in its flower end, a second tube forming an inlet intermediate the ends ofsaid tube for the admission of water from a source of supply, said second tube projecting into the first tube, a piston in said rst tube above said inlet and limited in its downward movement by said second tube, an anchoring rod connected to said piston and extending through said restricted opening for engagement with said drain whereby water admitted through said second tube into said first tube will fill said tube and force said piston upwardly with said anchoring rod, and water discharge through the restricted opening will exert pressure therein to dislodge stoppage.

3. A drain cleaner comprising in combination a resilient ball type seal having an axial opening therethrough, a tube in said axial opening having an open upper end and a restricted opening in its lower end, a second tube forming an inlet intermediate the ends of said tube for the admission of water from a source of supply, said second tube projecting into the first tube, a piston in said rst tube above said inlet and limited in its downward movement by said second tube, an anchoring rod connected to said piston and extending through said restricted opening for engagement with said drain whereby water admitted through said second tube into said rst tube will ill said tube and force said piston upwardly with said anchoring rod and water discharge through the restricted opening will exert pressure therein to dislodge stoppage, a handle in the upper end of said rst tube forming a stop for the upward movement of said piston and anchoring rod and forming means by which the device may be used in a commode without said anchor.

4, A drain cleaner comprising in combination a resilient dome type seal having an axial opening amanetherethrough, a tube in said axial opening haveV second tube projecting into the rst tube, a pis.

ton in said rst tube above said inlet and limited in its downward movement by said second tube, an anchoring rod connected to said piston and extending through said restricted opening for engagement with said drain whereby Water admitted through said second tube into said rst tube will ll said tube and force said piston upwardly with said anchoring rod and water discharge through the restricted opening will exert pressure therein to dislodge stoppage.

5. A drain cleaner comprising in combination a resilient dome type seal having an axial opening therethrough, a tube in said axial opening having an open upper end and a restricted opening in its lower end, a second tube forming an inlet intermediate the ends of said tube for the admission of water from a source of supply, said second tube projecting into the first tube, a piston in said rst tube above said inlet and limited in its downward movement by said second tube, an anchoring rod connected to said piston and ex'- tending through said restricted opening for engagernent with said drain whereby wateradmitted through said second tube into said first tube will ll said tube and force said piston upwardly with said anchoring rod and water discharge through the restricted opening will enter the drain and exert pressure therein to dislodge stoppage.

6. A drain cleaner comprising in combination a hollow resi-lient partly spherical seal having an anchoring rod connected thereto and extending through a restricted opening in the wall of the- ROSWELL w. HAMLETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordV inv-the le of this patent:

UNrrED YSTATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,519,110 Browneu 1 Dec. 16, 1924 024,873 

